


I've Got No Right to Be Mad

by tweekbros



Category: South Park
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Anxiety, Depression, M/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-28
Updated: 2018-02-11
Packaged: 2019-03-10 16:06:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13505001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tweekbros/pseuds/tweekbros
Summary: Craig and Tweek - best friends since they were kids. As Craig is out living his life, Tweek is watching from the side lines whilst trying to figure out how to live his own.Slow burn with a lot of rambling~





	1. Sleepless

It's 2.34am. In 2 hours and 26 minutes Tweek's first alarm will buzz to wake him up for work. If he can fall asleep in the next 11 minutes then he could hopefully get a good 2 hours and 15 minutes sleep, which won't really be enough to get him through a 9 hour shift, but he could always have a nap on his lunch hour. Squeezing his eyes shut tight isn't helping him drift off any quicker, he still has the restless spasms in his muscles, the nervous feeling in the pit of his stomach.

_What have I even got to be worried about?_

Tweek's sleeping pattern has always been far from perfect, to be honest. Being unable to sleep until way after 3am as a child and thriving off coffee, to passing out straight after getting home and being a night owl all through high school. Now as an adult with a full time job as a barista, he had to make some changes to his nightly schedule of brewing pots of coffee at 11.30pm and instead tried switching to only tea after 5pm. Tweek's work hours were mostly mornings, being the head barista with the responsibility of setting up and opening up shop, although he worked a couple of late nights at times to help with the newbies at the weekend.

Was he nervous about work tomorrow? Not really. When he first started helping out at Tweak Bros., it was a different story. His parents never expected him to be a perfect employee, and if he was ever confused by an order or making a complicated drink, he could just yell for his mom to help him out. However Tweek wanted to prove he was more than capable of handling things on his own, though this meant he appeared even more nervous, causing his shaking to become worse and as a result, a fair few drink casualties occurred. Although never actually ON somebody, he was insistent on adding on that fact.

Since his parents are getting older, they haven't been doing a lot of shifts at the coffee house, instead working behind the scenes. His mother doing most of the baking and his father dealing with the stock and paperwork. Tweek had now become the main show-runner, and at first the thought terrified him. However over time the feeling had passed, and he began feeling pretty confident about his work, perfecting his customer service smile and making perhaps the best coffee that South Park has ever tasted. Mr and Mrs Tweak hired a few of the "kids" of South Park, who aren't so much kids anymore but rather 21-25 year old adults. Bebe usually appears an hour after Tweek, being one of the morning baristas, with Kenny covering most of the evenings. Along with Pete, still sporting his classic red and black hairstyle, Heidi, Karen, and Ike - they make a pretty good team. They consider themselves a family, and Tweek feels pretty lucky to have such a positive outlook of work.

If it isn't work keeping him awake, then what is it? Checking his phone again, the time just changes to read 2.46am.

"Goddammit."

Tweek throws his duvet off in a huff, sitting upright on the edge of the bed. He debates switching on the TV just for background noise, but he knows how light of a sleeper his roommate Token is. Despite being across the hallway from Tweek's room, Token constantly nags at the blonde for waking him up in the middle of the night, either by his gaming keyboard clacking away or his muffled screams when getting too invested in a match. He decides against turning on the TV, not wanting to deal with a pissed off Token as well as sleep deprivation - even though Token was hardly quiet when he stumbled into the apartment about 1.30am this morning. Tweek had decided to spare his friends life since he was already wide awake staring at the ceiling. Instead he wanders over to the window, sitting down in his chair before watering some of his plants with a water bottle left close by in case of plant emergencies.

He opens the window and lets in the cold night air, he shivers - but it feels refreshing. The sky is clear tonight, the moon full and beaming bright, illuminating the mountain town in a silver glow. As weird and at some times, just damn stupid as South Park is, Tweek can't bring himself to leave. This is his home, this is where his friends are. For all their teenage years of complaining about "getting the hell out and never looking back", a lot of them just never made true on that promise. A few who left for college and work got out and stayed out, but there were also the select few that came back after a couple of years.

Tweek stared out on to the streets of South Park, his eyes following the sidewalks. At first, everything was still, the fresh snow untouched and picturesque. Tweek looked beyond the street of his apartment building and seen a figure unsteady on their feet, leaving an apartment across the street and down the way from Tweek's. The combination of the ice under the snow and the influence of too many beers, it seemed. Tweek smiled with sympathy.

"Poor guy."

Then he looked again. It wasn't just any stranger of South Park. He recognised the black jacket with the blue hoodie, the messy jet black hair with shaved sides. It was Craig Tucker, one of his best friends. For the briefest moment, Tweek wondered what the hell he was doing at 3am on one of the coldest nights of the year. Then he remembered, it is a Monday night after all, and Tuesdays are the day that Craig, Clyde, Jimmy, and Token all had a day off from their jobs. Annoying since Tuesday was Tweek's 6am start, and he often had to pass on their invites to the bar.

Token got home at around 1.30am, and it's now...3.11am. And that's not Craig's apartment. Tweek tried to think of those he knew who lived in the apartment block he'd just seen Craig exit from. Stan, Kyle, Henrietta, Bebe and...Thomas.

Oh. _Of course._ Craig had mentioned just that afternoon to the guys that Thomas had taken to sending him a lot more messages and Snapchats lately whilst they met for lunch. Tweek crinkled his nose when he realised what Craig's visit must've entailed. And the knot in his stomach felt like a knive being twisted. He felt like he was going to vomit.

" _STOP_ it, Tweek!" he whispered harshly to himself, his hands gripping to the fabric of his t-shirt. His throat burned, and the stinging of his eyes threatened to let out tears that he didn't want to appear.

He can't be mad at Craig, he's not going to let himself be mad at his best friend. Craig doesn't know that it hurts Tweek whenever he mentions someone interested in Craig has messaged him, or confides in Tweek that he ended up at somebody's place after a night out. How would he know? Tweek has made it a priority in life to never let on for a second.

Tweek looks up to the ceiling and sighs deeply. When he looks back out the window, Craig is nowhere to be seen. He doesn't live too far from here.

He slowly drags himself back to his bed, and covers his face with his hands.

He gives up trying to sleep soundly tonight.


	2. Distractions

With no sleep, Tweek decides on a cold shower to try help him out of the zombie headspace he’s in. It only slightly works. He has his morning routine down to a tee. Straight into the shower where he treats himself to banana smelling shampoo and one of his fancy soaps from Lush. Blow dry his hair whilst he brushes his teeth and has a good stare at himself in the mirror, analysing his face to see if any pimples had appeared overnight. Considering the lack of sleep, his skin looks pretty good this morning. Guess life ain’t all that bad. He dresses quickly in his work uniform, a pair of dark jeans and a black t-shirt with a Tweak Bros. logo across the chest and “BARISTA” written on the back. He grabs his backpack and coat, and on his way out the door he picks up a water bottle from the fridge and an apple out of the fruit bowl for his walk to work. His apartment isn’t too far from the coffee house, about a 10 minute walk - he doesn’t listen to music this morning, content with the stillness of South Park at 5.45am. The skyline is a pink and orange wash of colour, giving the town a warm glow. Tweek takes in his surroundings, breathing deeply, in and out. He looks down one of the streets he passes that leads to Craig’s apartment, there’s still a weight heavy on his chest.

  
_Are Craig and Thomas gonna be an item now? Or was last night a one time thing? What if Thomas starts hanging out with us and Craig takes him to the shop and I've gotta start making him coffee everyday?!_

  
Tweek's pace quickens, wanting to reach his work where he can distract himself setting up shop. He enjoys having a routine at work. He unlocks the door and flips the light switches, locking the door behind him. He discards his bag in the back and takes the tupperware boxes of muffins and banana bread his mom had dropped off last night to the counter. He likes setting up the displays and making everything pretty, and Tweek is known to be somewhat of a perfectionist. He plays one of the “chill out” playlists Heidi put together for the shop. He warms up the machines, sets up the tables, preps a few paninis and sandwiches, and when Tweek unlocks the front door and flips the sign to OPEN at precisely 7am, the customers start to trickle in.

  
It’s close to 8am when Bebe appears for her shift, and Tweek is already flagging.

“Good morni- _woah_. Oh Tweek, are you okay? You look...” Bebe paused, trying to find the kindest way to say Tweek looked like shit, “...sleepy.”

“I’m exhausted, Bebe - thank you.” Tweek slowly shuffled around behind the counter, with two cups of coffee held in each hand, both for himself.

“So how much sleep did you get last night?” Bebe attempted to flatten his hair but abandoned all hope rather quickly.

“Um, I didn’t really sleep...at all...” Tweek chuckled nervously, “just got caught up with my games as usual, y’know?”

Mentioning his late night gaming sessions would usually be enough for Bebe, she would always sigh and remind Tweek to look after himself, however today she isn’t buying it.

“Tweek. You _look_ upset, and you’re not exactly the type to mope around after losing a game.”

Tweek busies himself by refilling the grinder with coffee beans, debating whether or not to vent to Bebe. Tweek's put the days of causing huge fusses behind him, when he can.

The years of screaming in the hallway at school, pulling his hair whenever he was stressed, he had worked so hard to get past it. He still has pretty big trust issues, although Bebe has never shown any sign that she can’t be trusted, but Tweek isn’t one to take a chance. What could he even say to her?

_Well Bebe, last night I happened to see Craig leaving a boy’s apartment that WASN’T mine and I cried out of sheer jealousy because I want him all to myself._

No way, no fucking way. Craig isn't his. And acting like a spoilt brat isn't going to change that. He decides that no good thing could possibly come out of telling her he spent the last few hours feeling hollow because his best friend was having a good night without him. He decides instead to do something he’s learned to perfect, put up a front.

“I’m all good, Bebe! But thanks for looking out for me,” he smiles at her and nudges her shoulder with his own, “so what coffee can I make for you this morning?”

* * *

Tweek and Bebe work well together, with Bebe's dazzling personality and the way she can make any customer melt, Tweek is more than happy being in the background making a mean cup of coffee, occasionally greeting the usual customers and waving goodbye to those on their way out. Bebe spends most of her morning at the cash register, yelling the orders to Tweek whilst she prepares the sandwiches and baked goods. Tweek can hear the tip jar being topped up every so often, and the bell above the door chimes at a steady pace.

This is good, this is what he needs. His head is full of orders, which cup needs an extra shot of coffee, what syrup to use and how much, who needs soy. There’s no room for him to think of last night.

When there is finally a quiet moment in the shop after the morning rush, Bebe consults the schedule taped to the back of the “EMPLOYEES ONLY” door, calling over to Tweek. He’s propped himself up against the counter, sipping away at yet another black coffee.

“You finish at 3, right?"

Tweek closes his eyes and nods in response.

"I really don’t think you’re gonna last until then, babe.”

“I have to, if I leave any earlier it leaves Pete on his own until Ike gets in at 3.”

Bebe flips her blonde curls over her shoulder and gives Tweek her best mom glare.

“I’m gonna stay here until 3 then to cover you. You can leave at 12. And you’re going to get some sleep,” she turns into the back room and pokes her head back around, “I’ll make you a nice lunch to take home with you, okay?”

* * *

Bebe really is too good to him. She sent him on his way at 12pm with a brown paper bag of food she prepared just for him (although maybe stealing one of his mom’s slices of banana bread) with a note on the bag.

  
_To: WonderTweek_  
_♡ Bebe x_

  
He smiled at the embarrassingly old Superhero alias, why did his have to stick after all these years when literally _nobody else's_ did was a mystery, but it always comes from a place of endearment from Bebe.

  
His mind wanders. SuperCraig. The whole “dating, but fighting” fiasco, they really went all in with that. Their fake relationship only lasted about a year, the excitement for South Park’s first gay kids has slowly died out, and they felt no real need for it anymore. They had been in the same friend circle prior to the two of them dating, but they weren't exactly close. Their fake relationship had helped them form a concrete friendship, being best friends ever since. To everyone else, their break up seemed amicable and mutual, and no one really cares about who you dated at age 10 when you’re 24.

  
Tweek wonders what it would’ve been like if their relationship wasn’t fake. If they never broke up. Tweek was never really interested in anybody until he had his brand new relationship thrust upon him one eventful day at school. He had thought a few girls in his class were pretty, but some of the boys were too. He didn’t know what he wanted when he was a kid, all he knew was that he enjoyed Craig’s company. When they had broken up, they went through their awkward teenage phases together, Craig’s braces with carefully thought out colour combinations, Tweek’s extremely thick glasses that made his eye appear even larger, and the time Craig tried to shave the back of his head himself and gave himself a pudding bowl haircut. However when Craig was out there receiving his first kiss, his first date, his first real boyfriend throughout high school - Tweek never enjoyed any of his experiences in that field. His first kiss was a painful spin the bottle experience with Red, he had panicked so much he nearly knocked her front teeth out with the force he moved his head towards her, which he still apologises for to this day. He had a couple of dates after high school had finished, one with a friend of Butters from the town over, two with Red, and one with Stan Marsh which just ended up to be two friends hanging out. He never really felt a spark with any of them.

None of them were Craig Tucker.

He fishes out his headphones from his bag, wanting to distract himself with anything. He hits shuffle on his favourites playlist, “ _Easily_ ” by RHCP. It’ll do. He just wants to be home. He turns the corner on to his street a little too quickly and slips on the ice.

“Christ-!” he steadies himself and comically grips the fence as if he’s pulling himself along all the way until he reaches his apartment.

When he gets inside he sees Token standing in the kitchen making a very late breakfast, with Nichole sitting at the table. She smiles brightly and waves at him, and Token gives him a salute with the spatula.

“Finished early?”

“Pretty quiet today,” Tweek shrugs, he doesn’t want to make Token and Nichole worry by telling them Bebe had sent him home.

“You're lucky you get to finish so early! My shift starts in an hour,” Nichole pulls a face, “do you wanna have bacon and eggs with us, Tweek?”

He holds up the paper bag with a smile.

“I’m all set for food, Bebe made me a packed lunch.”

He excuses himself and sets down the hall to his room, setting down his bag and lying flat on his bed. Despite his lack of sleep, and the fact he felt the need to lean on the counter for support all morning, he's pissed off to find he doesn't feel like he can sleep now.

_Why the hell did it have to be him I saw last night. Out of every guy in South Park. What kind of a sick joke is that?!_

He goes over to sit at his desk and empties the contents of his packed lunch, a grilled cheese sandwich, a little pot of strawberry yoghurt, a slice of banana bread, and a small bottle of water from the fridge at work. He hasn’t eaten all day, and it’s gone in 5 minutes tops.

It’s only just after 12.30pm, he’s got the whole day to himself.

“Tweek!” he can hear Token calling him.

He gets up and opens his door, Token is sitting on the couch of their open plan living room.

“I’ve invited the guys over, Clyde, Jim, and Craig. Chill day, you in?”

 _Craig’s coming here?!_ He feels himself twitch slightly, a feeling of dread washes over him.

“S-sure, uh, give me a couple minutes. I’ll be out soon, o-okay?”

His stutter comes back full force when he’s nervous. Tweek closes the door behind him and lets out a deep sigh. He hates feeling nervous about Craig, of all people, is coming over. They're _friends_. He changes into his sweatpants and hoodie, grabs his glasses off the nightstand, and sets his chair right by the window so he can see exactly when his friends all arrive. No surprises.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had this chapter written on my notes for the past couple of days and decided to just go for it and publish it now.  
> I hope it's not too boring, things will start picking up soon~!


	3. Games

The guys were always late. Tweek had been passing the time waiting for the guys by checking on his town in Animal Crossing, occassionally lifting his head to peer out the window for any sign of his friends. Eventually he saw Clyde, Craig, and Jimmy heading round the corner and up the street towards his apartment, each of them wearing a heavy looking backpack and Clyde carrying a grocery bag of what looked like snacks. His breath hitches and he quickly saves his game before jumping out of his chair and heading into the living room, where Token is still lounging on the couch, flicking through Netflix.

Token raises his eyebrows at Tweek, "Took your time, man! I thought you were coming back out here - did you fall asleep or something?".

"S-Sorry! I got distracted watering my plants, then I had to check my town and check on THOSE plants, and th-", Tweek rambles, before Token cuts him off, smiling gently.

"It's _fine_ , dude, I was only kidding," Token smiles softly, though they both jump when their buzzer rings loudly through the apartment, "Jesus! _Everytime_."

Tweek takes a seat on the end of one of their couches, pulling his knees up to his chest, whilst Clyde, Jimmy, and Craig make their way inside. Tweek holds up a hand to greet them.

"Sup, Tweek!", Clyde claps Tweek on the back as he walks to the kitchen counter, emptying the contents of the grocery bag, Doritos, Jolly Ranchers, and multiple cans of Dr Pepper and Mountain Dew. 

"Not working today, Tweek? You could've came out with us last night after all" Jimmy has made his way to the TV, pulling his Xbox and a collection of wires out of his backpack, clearly Token and Tweek's PS4 is taking a back seat today.

"I was in at 6! Finished early today," Tweek smiles at him, "pretty quiet this morning so Bebe said she'd cover for me." Tweek pauses, deciding whether or not he actually wants to ask this, however his stupid mouth betrays him.

"So h-how was last night, anyway?" he tries to appear nonchalant, although his stuttering and rapid blinking might make that hard to believe.

"You didn't miss much at all," Craig sits down next to Tweek on the couch, giving him a nod as a greeting.

"That's because _you_ disappeared halfway through the night!" Token points at Craig accusingly.

"Yeah, man! Where did you even go? You never told any of us you were even leaving!" Clyde pipes up. Craig just shrugs, his eyes looking up towards the ceiling.

"I just got bored so I went home. You guys already know I do that sometimes."

_"Bullshit."_ Tweek thinks, he knows Craig is straight up lying to the rest of them, but he isn't exactly in a place to say he saw Craig making his way home from Thomas' place last night. _Why_ did he even ask that question, he already knows enough about last night, bringing it up just makes the feeling of a stone lodged in his chest come hurtling back. His throat and eyes have the awful burning sensation that makes him feel like he's going to burst into tears at any moment. He sighs and throws his head back against the couch, closing his eyes.

"You feeling okay there, Tweek?" Jimmy asks as he sits on the opposite couch, controller in hand.

"Ngh, yeah, just a headache," he tries to snap out of his funk, "so what are we playing?"

"Take turns in Overwatch?" Jimmy replies as if he's asking a question, but he's already decided that's what they're doing as the title screen is loading on the TV. Jimmy is a borderline pro at Overwatch, so Tweek doesn't actually mind so much watching him, finding his skills pretty impressive. Tweek on the other hand plays as Junkrat and hopes for the best when shooting. Jimmy passes him the controller after his turn, and Tweek gets ready to play a match, although pretty quickly he finds himself struggling to concentrate, as Craig's leg is pressed right against Tweek's. Tweek is pissed for two reasons. One, he's playing absolutely terribly, embarrassingly even. And two, something as little as Craig's thigh touching his is enough for his heart to beat faster, enough for his entire body to feel like it's on fire, enough to distract him from playing a stupid game. Tweek's team fails miserably, as he passes the controller to Craig. After everyone has a few turns (and Tweek insisting on just watching from now on), they start to get bored.

"Who wants to play what?" Token asks, slumped over lazily with a bowl of Doritos balancing on his tummy. Tweek smiles slyly and points to his Switch perched on one of the shelves of the TV stand.

"No...no..." Clyde is horrified, "you always win Mario Kart, Tweek. You show no mercy, it's not fair!"

"Well I just bought Overcooked if you wanna try th-" Tweek is interrupted by Token.

"Tweek, we tried to play it together the other night and all you did was scream the entire time."

"It's stressful."

"We're playing Mario Kart." Token decides, setting up the Switch and controllers. After a few tournaments, a handful of insults, and one very heated argument, Mario Kart is switched off, and the guys decide to watch a movie instead. Token switches off the lights and Tweek checks his phone, 4.13pm. This afternoon has been pretty nice, after a while the feeling of dread and worry left Tweek, and he felt he could enjoy the time with his friends. Of course enjoying it slightly more when Craig would nudge into him every so often when playing games, or throwing an arm around Tweek in celebration. Tweek settles more into the couch feeling content, and with the combination of his comfy seat and the heat from sitting next to Craig, a human heater, Tweek finally succumbs to sleep.

* * *

He wakes with a jolt, and realises he's been sleeping on Craig's shoulder. Craig seems unfazed by this though, simply asking Tweek, "good sleep?", as Tweek scrambles to his feet. As Tweek begins to stumble to the kitchen, Token calls after him,

"Y'know Clyde was trying to take photos of your drooling slumber."

Tweek stops dead, and turns to glare at Clyde, who is sitting with a dumb smile on his face and hands held up in defence.

"Don't worry, Tweek, I protected you." Tweek's gaze is shifted towards Craig, as Clyde pulls out his phone and shows him the attempted humilation. Craig wasn't exaggerating, where Tweek's wide open mouth and drool should be, a middle finger would be in place instead, protecting Tweek's dignity.

"My hero. You're getting a free drink next time you're at Tweak Bros.," Tweek turns to point menacingly at Clyde, "you're paying double." Tweek makes his way over to the kitchen and heads for the coffee machine.

"I thought you weren't drinking caffeine after 5pm anymore," Token side-eyes him from the couch. The clock reads 6.30pm, he'd slept for that long? Tweek opts for tea instead. As his tea is brewing, he notices everyone starts heaving themselves off the couches, Jimmy packing away the Xbox, Clyde collecting his leftover snacks. 

"You're all leaving?" Tweek asks, worried that it came across as desperate.

"I'm meeting Nichole after her shift to get dinner with her, sorry man." Token pulls on his coat, zipping it up right to the top to brace himself against the cold winter weather of Colorado. Jimmy has to train a newbie at the bar he works at, Clyde is making dinner with his girlfriend tonight at their place, and Craig and his father are working together to fix up a car he managed to get for cheap. 

"We'll be at Tweak Bros. sometime during the week anyway, I'll stop by during my lunch hour!" Clyde drapes an arm around Tweek's shoulder, "we'll see ya soon!". Tweek lets the guys out, waving to the guys as if he was seeing them all off to school, they all say their goodbyes to him until it's Craig's turn to exit.

"I'll text you later, we'll hang out together soon, okay?" Craig smiles at him.

"Definitely," Tweek beams at this, though his mind goes blank and he pauses for slightly too long, "s-sounds gre-ood," his mouth and brain don't connect and out jumbles a mismatched sentence and a robotic thumbs up. Craig just laughs quietly and waves to Tweek.

"Later, dude."

Tweek closes the door, silently walks to his room, collapses face first into his pillow, and groans.  _Why can't I function like a normal human being?!_  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A short chapter, just wanted to show the guys being together, playing games, all that fun stuff!  
> I'm sorry that it's late, and so short, I've been away on holiday these past couple of weeks. I'll work on making the next chapter longer!

**Author's Note:**

> I'm so sorry if this comes across extremely cringe-y or badly written! I've loved Creek since I was a wee bab at 12 years old and only just writing for them over a decade later!  
> I really like the idea of writing what their lives are like, so if the story seems very slow I'm sorry! I like to be really thorough about what the characters do in a day, what they like and don't like, sorta thing!
> 
> Thank you SO much for reading~!


End file.
